The Lackey's Life Ends (3)
The man squeezed between the crew-cut thugs with their burly builds looked particularly small and skinny, which alone drew attention. But what stood out even more than his physique was the rope binding his wrists and the blue tape covering his eyes and mouth. It was too dark to see clearly, but his lips were split and there were bruises on his cheekbones, as if he'd been beaten before being brought here. He had clearly been dragged to this place against his will, just like me.
For a moment, I felt a surge of empathy for the scrawny man, and an ominous thought flashed through my mind.
Maybe I'll end up just like him.
It wasn't a pointless worry born of anxiety. The situation was clearly going wrong in every way. Not only had that man been dragged here bound and gagged, but Ho-gyun still hadn't told me what legal trouble he was in. And if there really was a legal dispute, why was he chatting and laughing with these gangsters who clearly weren't on good terms with him?
The man who seemed to be the gang leader bowed his head deeply in front of Ho-gyun and asked, "Have you been well?"
"Well, my ass. I'm dying here."
"Ah, you've run out of product? I'm sorry. Things got complicated."
Instead of answering the gangster, Ho-gyun glanced at me.
"There's someone here who doesn't know about our business, so don't talk about the product so carelessly. Let me introduce you. This is Attorney Kang Min-chan."
The gangster who had been introduced didn't bother with greetings and simply scanned me from head to toe.
"Ah, so this is the one from today..."
Ho-gyun looked up at the construction site that had been halted.
"Yeah. That's right. Shall we head up?"
"Yes, let's do that."
What was this "product," and what had the gangster been about to say after "today"? And why insist on going into that empty-looking building when we could talk right here?
I became certain that whatever I was supposed to handle today wasn't a legal issue within my usual scope. Whether I got fired from the company or not, whether there was a way back or not, I resolved to get out of here first and looked behind me.
But two large gangsters had already blocked the exit, standing shoulder to shoulder like a wall.
To make matters worse, Ho-gyun draped his arm around my shoulder and gripped it tightly.
"Attorney Kang is coming up with us too, right? You agreed to handle my problem."
I tried to stall for time by changing the subject.
"I still don't understand what legal issue you have, Executive Director. It's quite late, so how about I visit you tomorrow and hear the details?"
"No. This needs to be handled right now. The parties involved are all gathered here anyway, so let's go up."
The moment I was about to refuse, the gang leader took a step closer and muttered in a low voice, "How about coming along while I'm still asking nicely?"
All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind. Should I shake them all off and run? Should I scream for help at the top of my lungs? Both options seemed unlikely to succeed. How far could I get if I ran alone? Besides, they had a car. It wouldn't take them more than a few seconds to catch up to me on foot.
A quick glance around confirmed that this location had been deliberately chosen—there wasn't a soul in sight. Since there was no immediate solution, I decided to buy a little more time and nodded.
"Understood."
Thud, thud—
Still with Ho-gyun's arm around my shoulder, I climbed the building stairs alongside the gangsters. I desperately hoped for some other variable to appear, but my only escape route had narrowed even further into a staircase barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side.
After climbing for what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the eleventh floor, the very top. The atmosphere there was far more menacing than outside. All sorts of makeshift weapons—wooden clubs, shovels, bricks—were scattered across the floor, ready to be used as bludgeons.
"We'll proceed as planned, right?"
The moment Ho-gyun released his arm from my shoulder, my worst premonition became reality.
Thud—!
A heavy impact struck the back of my head, and before I could resist or even scream, I collapsed onto the dust-covered floor.
Clatter—
The wooden club that had struck me was so forceful that it broke and fell to the ground. Moments later, just like the scrawny man, my arms were twisted behind my back, my wrists bound, and my eyes and mouth sealed with blue tape.
As I clung desperately to consciousness, repeating the mantra that even when caught by a tiger, one must keep their wits about them, I overheard Ho-gyun and the gang leader talking. They must have thought I was completely unconscious, because they spoke freely about things they had been careful about downstairs.
Ho-gyun's voice came first.
"Sniff, sniff. Got any more product? I'm really dying here, cutting it off so suddenly."
"There's a bit of leftover stock we were going to dispose of, but wouldn't it be better to take a break? The police have caught wind of it, and if Young Master gets involved, it could be a real disaster."
"Yeah. You're right. We can pin the police investigation on these two guys, right?"
"Yes. The lackey we brought was the supplier, and the one who received the drugs from QS Group will be pinned on this lawyer you brought. That should wrap up the case nicely."
"His workplace is the Chairman's secretariat at QS Group headquarters, so it fits perfectly."
"You picked someone who matches our plan perfectly, Young Master."
Crunch—!
Now I finally understood what I had gotten myself into. A while ago, through connections I'd made while working at the prosecutor's office, I'd received a suspicious tip: someone in the QS Group was receiving drugs through gangsters, and I should be careful. Since Ho-gyun, whose legal matters I handled, hadn't said anything, I'd assumed it was either his older brothers, Seong-gyun or Je-gyun, or perhaps some distant cousin from the extended family. But damn it—the one who had been taking and using the drugs was Ho-gyun himself, and the reason he hadn't told me was because he planned to frame me all along?
Ah, so that was why his eyes had been bloodshot and he'd been grinning in the car earlier—drug withdrawal symptoms.
As my reasoning concluded, I felt something sharp and metallic touch my forearm. The needle pierced my vein without resistance and injected the drug deep into my body.
Thump, thump—
As my heart raced and spread the drug throughout my system, the thread of consciousness I'd been desperately holding onto grew fainter and fainter.
It wasn't hard to imagine what would happen next. My body would be discovered as a corpse, and drugs would be detected in my blood. I'd be branded a drug offender, and even after death, I'd be pointed at and whispered about for a long time.
Kwon Ho-gyun, that bastard! How many tons of his shit had I cleaned up until now? Without me, he'd have been rotting in a cell by now, and this is how he repays me?
Just then, a scream and the sound of someone falling from the building echoed below. It was probably the scrawny man who had been in the same situation as me. And I was next.
Thud, thud, thud—
Refusing to go down without a fight, I struggled desperately. But Ho-gyun's reaction was calm.
"What? You weren't unconscious? You're pretty tenacious for someone about to die. Did you hear everything we just said?"
The gang leader chimed in from the side.
"He's going to die anyway, so it doesn't matter if he heard, does it?"
"True. Let's finish this quickly and go."
"Yes, Young Master."
After that, the gangsters grabbed my arms from both sides, dragged me to my feet, and someone kicked me hard in the back. I plummeted straight down from the eleventh floor. Unable to control my body due to the drugs, my head—the heaviest part—hit the ground first.
And so, my bitter life came to an end. Even my resolve to rise above others through study and law, despite growing up as an orphan, ended with it. All that remained etched deep in my bones was the lesson that in the end, life is determined by who you're born under.
The evening after the gangsters removed the ropes and tape from Min-chan's body and left.
The incident was being covered on TV.
"This is JBS News. Our guest today is the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency. Hello."
- Hello.
"Last week, we reported that there were signs of drug trafficking involving an organized crime group within QS Group, the nation's largest conglomerate. Today, the perpetrator has reportedly been apprehended?"
- Yes, that's correct. The perpetrator has been identified as Attorney Kang, who worked in the secretariat at QS Group headquarters. This morning, his body was discovered alongside Mr. Heo, the supplier, in front of an abandoned building. Drugs suspected to have been distributed were found in Mr. Heo's pocket, and the same substance was detected in Attorney Kang's blood.
"So those two are definitely the culprits? But how did they end up as corpses?"
- Signs of a brawl were found on both bodies. This is common in drug investigations. It appears they argued over something and fell together from a high floor during a fight.
"I understand there has been much discussion about the deceased attorney's background. He was a former prosecutor, wasn't he?"
- We're still looking into that, but we cannot disclose the suspect's identity at this time as a matter of principle.
"Understood. In that case, is QS Group completely cleared of suspicion?"
- Since an employee working there committed such an act, QS Group will likely find it difficult to avoid moral responsibility. However, rumors suggesting that the direct descendants of QS Group Chairman Kwon Byung-do were involved have been confirmed as false and are unlikely to lead to legal issues.
(......)
"Thank you for your valuable insights. We appreciate you joining us today."
Urgh—
Wasn't I dead? Consciousness returned after an unknown amount of time. My last memory was being injected with drugs and pushed from the building in a staged suicide. I had definitely died then. Yet here I was, conscious—did that mean I was in the afterlife? That possibility couldn't be ruled out either. I decided to open my eyes and check.
Huh? This was a place I'd been to before I died.